Sen panel grills Sudipta

The Baguiati flat (circled) where Sen’s second wife Piyali used to live. Picture by Mayukh Sengupta

Calcutta, April 17: The Shyamal Sen Commission today interrogated Sudipta Sen for around two hours, on a day the Saradha chief’s second wife and son were questioned by the Enforcement Directorate.

The commission, set up by the state to probe the cause and extent of the default and identify the beneficiaries of the government’s Rs 500-crore relief fund, also questioned Amin Ara, who apparently used to oversee the Saradha Group’s bank operations and was second to Debjani Mukherjee, a director.

According to sources, the commission upped the ante today to contest claims that it was dragging its feet on probing the default crisis. The commission, which had last interrogated Sudipta in February, also instructed Bidhannagar police today to immediately settle cases related to the seized Saradha vehicles so that they could be auctioned at the earliest.

“Sudipta Sen came with his lawyer. The commission spoke to him for around two hours. We have collected specific information about the money trail following today’s questioning,” said a senior commission official.

The official said Bidhannagar police was asked to settle the cases against 64 seized cars as the company hired to auction the vehicles was not being able to do so because of the legal tangles.

Among the cars seized is Sudipta’s Mercedes Benz, which has a Haryana registration number. The auction of the 64 cars was supposed to begin in February.

The commission today also heard some duped investors of other illegal deposit-mobilising companies.